Life Of A Warrior
by KungFuPandaFanatic
Summary: "Why Tigress? Why can't we save everyone?" "Why? Because we are only people Po."


To be a warrior, it's something we all wish we could be everyday and night. To have the power and fight off the darkness to shield the light from its evil grasps. However, though being a warrior has its perks, it also has its downfalls, and one of those downfalls is what you have to witness in your line of work. You see the bloodshed and just how cruel people can be over the simplest of things. Something the Dragon warrior has come to known in his career as a protector, and though he has a strong heart and mind, it couldn't help him on that night, where he truly saw the horrors and the pain of being called a protector.

The panda sat alone on his bed in his room, his head hanging low and his arms slumped over his legs as if they didn't have a purpose. If that wasn't enough of a clue of how much he was affected, his jade eyes were empty and held nothing but questions and anger in them instead of his usual happiness. He had been like this since that night three nights ago, and though his friends tried their best to confront him on it. He would always shy away from them, but the one person they knew that had the best chance at talking to him was mate...Tigress. Out of them all, she knew the feeling he was feeling at the moment, and so, as the others waited in the dinning hall, she made her way to his room. Hoping she would get through to him, or at least help him understand. So, as she waited outside his room, she lifted her paw up and gave a light tap on the paper mache door.

"Po, may I come in?" She asked in a soft tone, hoping for an answer on the other side. Upon hearing his love, the panda slowly lifted his head up to see the tiger standing outside of his room.

"Tigress," Po said above a whisper, for not even Tigress could hear it. He then closed his eyes and slowly made his way to his feet. Now standing, he made his way over to the door, something that made Tigress anxious and nervous at the same time.

"Can I help you?" A saddened Po asked after he opened the door enough to just slightly see the felines worried face.

"Yes you can, by letting me in and helping you with this." Tigress said, her eyes pleading to the panda in hopes he would listen to her. Po only let out a sigh at this and closed his eyes.

"I appreciate your concern dear, but I think I need to be alone right now." He told her bluntly, not trying to hurt her feelings, but just wanted to be alone to his thoughts. She couldn't help but feel her heart ache and for her paws to clench up.

"You keep saying that though. I'm sick of hearing that and so is everyone else Po, this isn't something you can fix on your own ok!" Tigress snapped, making the pandas eyes open back up with a bit of shock. Seeing that she wasn't going to let him be alone, he reluctantly opened the door and turned his back when he did.

"Fine, you win Tigress. Come in," He then made his way back to his bed and sat on it. Tigress soon entered the room than and closed the door behind her.

"Thank you." She told him with a bit of happiness. She then made her way over to him and got on her knees so she could look him in the eyes, but he tried his best to avoid locking eyes up with her.

"Come on Po, talk to me. You know it hurts me when you seclude yourself like this." Tigress stated, letting her soft side out on him. Carefully, she placed a paw on one of the pandas arms, this gained his attention a little as he began to look at her.

"I-I'm sorry for that Ti, but I can't help but feel guilty and angry. I mean, aren't Warriors supposed to protect people? To keep them safe?" He asked with sorrow, water now starting to leak from his eyes.

"Yes, as Warriors it's our duty to keep people safe." Tigress told him, now moving her paw from one of his arms to one of his paws and clenched it tightly.

"Then tell me, why couldn't we save them? Why couldn't we protect them?" The panda then closed his eyes and held his head down in shame. When she saw this, Tigress placed her head onto Pos and began to rub their heads together, trying to comfort him as she knew he was remembering that night. But who could ever forget such a sight.

 **3 nights ago**

 _After receiving an urgent message that called for help, the Warriors were off and ran as fast as they could through the valleys forest. As the village that was in trouble was on the outskirts of the valley which made them worry all the more as they feared they wouldn't make it in time._

 _"Pick up the pace guys!" Po told them sternly, looking back at the others who were not far behind him._

 _"We're going as fast as we can Po!" Monkey shouted, feeling his heart pounding from the run they were doing. As they continued onto their destination, Tigress could see something off in the distance which was a cloud of deep black smoke._

 _"Po, there's a bunch of dark smoke up ahead, black smoke to be precise." She told the panda, looking over at him which he looked back with a look of fear._

 _"Black smoke, that can only mean..." As Vipers eyes widened._

 _"Fire." Po said with fear, he then began to grit his teeth and charged forward as fast as his legs could carry him. Knowing there wasn't much time left if things had already gotten so bad. Eventually they came into contact with the black smoke and though it slowed them down a little, they continued on their way until they reached a small hill side. What they saw horrified them, as the small village that was beneath the cliff was engulfed in red flames._

 _"We're to late." Mantis stated sadly, this made Po look at him with a glare._

 _"You don't know that! There could be survivors needing help!" Po yelled, and in a matter of seconds jumped off the cliff to go down to the village._

 _"Wait For us Po." Crane said, as he and the others soon jumped off to and made their way to the burning village. With as fast as they ran, they made it in a matter of minutes and began to search for survivors._

 _"Hello, is there anyone out there!?" Po shouted, cuffing his paws around his mouth so his words could reach a longer distance._

 _"If anyone is hiding, it's ok to come on out!" Tigress shouted, her eyes scanning every inch of the area and her eyes soon locked onto a body. Getting on all fours, she rushed over to the figure in hopes they were alive but soon saw her hopes were for nothing._

 _"No," was all that she got out as at her feet was a small bunny child covered in blood. She then began to notice some more bodies around her and the ground being covered with blood._

 _"How could this happen?" Viper asked herself, with her eyes wide by the sight she saw which was the same as everyone else's. Only seeing the body's of the dead and the color of red reflecting in the flames. Out of them all though, Po saw the worst as he walked up to a small dying rabbit who was on the brink of death. He dropped to his knees and gently cupped the rabbit in his paws._

 _"M-my baby, w-wh-where is she?" Asked the small rabbit, coughing up blood. Po couldn't help but feel his heart tear, knowing this woman's baby was most likely dead for no crys where heard anywhere._

 _"Your baby..." Po began, looking down at her._

 _"...your baby is safe, I'll make sure she is taken care of for you." Po told her, not being able to tell her the truth. The rabbit smiled at the pandas words and gently padded his paws._

 _"T-thank you." As her last breath escaped her, leading to her eyes being closed forever. Po then gently placed the rabbit back into the ground, after he did, he started to slam his paws on the ground._

 _"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Po shouted with anger to the heavens, making his friends who were watching the whole scene hold their heads down and close their eyes, respecting those who were lost on that night._

 **Back to the present**

Feeling his loves head rub against his, Po began to take in some deep breaths and asked his feline what he did before.

"Please Tigress, tell me why we couldn't save them?" Po begged, wanting nothing but answers to his question. The feline then slowly pulled her head away from the pandas and placed her paws on his cheeks, looking him straight in the eyes.

"We couldn't save them because we are only people Po. No matter how hard you train or how fast you run, you just can't save everyone in is world. I know it's hard to hear that but it's the truth my love, and it's something we Warriors have to come to terms with." Tigress told him, trying her best to explain to him.

"How though? How can you can to terms with such things?" He asked, not believing that was possible.

"By having people who love you surround you. That's how me and the others get through it, we are there for each other and talk each other through it. I'm not saying it will be just like that, it takes time, but your loved ones soften the blow." She then places a soft wet kiss on the pandas cheek, bringing her words to life

"That's good to hear, but what about when you lose those people? When you lose your loved ones, when you lose family, or your mate?" Po asked with wander, Tigress only shook her head at this and smiled.

"Don't you understand Po, there will always be someone who will help you through your tough times. If it's not me it will be Viper, if it's not her, it's monkey and so on. That's what I mean, I'm just trying to tell you, you don't have to go through this alone and as long as I have breath, I'll be the first person you see." The panda couldn't help but shed tears at her words, not sad ones, but happy ones. He then slowly wrapped his arms around the tiger and placed his left paw on the back of her head, holding her close.

"I love you Tigress, you always know what to say to bring me back up." Po sobbed, burying his head into her neck. Tigress could smile and let out a warm purr to ease the panda a little. She then laid her head against his and told him "I love you to Po, and I'm glad I can bring you up, just like you have for me in the past." Though he saw more horrible sights, Po always had people around him to help him through it, and like his love said, it did help him in many ways.

Hope you guys like this, leave a review if you like, thanks.


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